This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Presently, ~1% of children born each year in the USA are conceived via assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and world-wide more than 1 million children have been conceived and delivered over the last 2 decades. Children conceived through ART are more likely to exhibit low birth weights and to be delivered prematurely. Much of the morbidity that stems from ART is due to the high rate of multiple gestations associated with this treatment. To date, embryo quality assessments are based on a subjective morphological evaluation of the embryo following in vitro culture. Objective criteria for selection of high quality embryos should increase ART success and make single embryo transfer a more viable therapeutic option. Thus, there is a compelling case for the development of analytical and non-invasive assays that predict embryo quality. The long-range goal of this research is to link molecular, cellular and biochemical processes occurring in the early embryo prior to implantation to developmental events that ultimately result in a successful pregnancy. The hypothesis of the proposed research is that the early embryo secretes/releases proteins that reflect the developmental competence of that embryo. This proposal will identify en masse for the first time early embryonic secreted/released protein markers in conditioned medium to begin to establish a signature/pattern of proteins indicative of embryo quality. Aim 1 will identify secreted/released protein(s) from murine embryos exhibiting qualitative differences using tandem mass spectrometry. Aim 2 will validate whether these proteins can be used to predict in vivo embryo quality and whether the murine system is translatable to the human system.